Mickey Rooney tells Senate panel he was a victim of elder abuseWashington (CNN) -- Grimacing with emotion, entertainment legend Mickey Rooney implored a Senate committee on Wednesday to stop what experts call chronic emotional, physical, sexual and financial abuse of elderly Americans by family members and other caregivers.

The 90-year-old Rooney told the Senate Special Committee on Aging that he was abused by a family member who took control of his life, and described feeling "scared, disappointed, yes, and angry."

The committee's hearing brought attention to what experts call chronic elder abuse in America. Rooney said Congress should pass a law to make it a specific crime.

"I'm asking you to stop this elderly abuse. I mean to stop it. Now. Not tomorrow, not next month, but now," he shouted from the witness table. Pass legislation and send it to be signed into law by President Barack Obama, he urged, so that the nation can say "it's a crime and we will not allow it in the United States of America."